Monthly Archives: September 2017

I’ve not blogged about the anti Hs2 campaign for some time, mainly because their campaign’s collapsed. There’s nothing going on nationally, just a dwindling number of folk moaning about Hs2 on Twitter. Locally, a few campaign groups on Phase 2 continue to make a noise, but their numbers are small and there’s little in the way of co-ordination.

However, last Thursday, Joe Rukin of the sole surviving ‘national’ group (Stop Hs2) decided to start yet another anti Hs2 petition using the Governments template. What a bad idea! I’ve always said that (like social media), these petitions are a double-edged sword. They’re just as likely to show a campaign’s weaknesses as much as its strengths – as is the case here. Regular readers will know I love this petition format as it provided some very interesting numbers to crunch. Signatories are identified by constituency and a total is given as a percentage of resident constituents. So, this morning I crunched the numbers. The petition will run until March 2018, which means Stophs2 have 6 months of embarrassment to come (if they last that long).

The map that comes with the petition’s the really useful resource as it highlights the constituents with the largest number of signs using different colours. The darker the colour, the more who’ve signed. Now, spot where Hs2 goes!

Straight away the map explodes the myth that the Stop Hs2 campaign’s national. It’s clear that it’s anything but. Folk signing the petition are mostly living on the route, with the greatest concentration on Phase 1 around the Chilterns!

Here’s the number crunching, firstly for constituencies on Hs2 Phase 1 – which is a done deal now.

The first figure is the number of constituents, the second is the number who’ve signed the petition and the final one is the percentage of constituents. The first fact that leaps out is how tiny the percentages are, the largest is just over half 1%! The second fact is that phase 1 signatories make up a third of the grand total of 6229. The other fact is that other constituencies on the phase 1 route aren’t on the spreadsheet as the numbers of signatories are so small.

Now let’s have a look at Phase 2. I’ve divided them between the two legs of Hs2, Manchester and Leeds. Lets look at the Manchester route first.

What’s fascinating about this is that so few constituencies Hs2 passes through feature. This proves what I’ve been saying for some time, the stop Hs2 campaign’s always been weak here (there’s never been a single anti Hs2 group in Manchester for example) but now it looks like it’s pretty much collapsed. Despite the presence of a small but noisy Mid-Cheshire ‘action’ group, Congleton constituency only has 25 signs. Stafford has 31.

Now let’s look at the Leeds leg.

The numbers show that all the noise that’s come from one or two groups in Yorkshire and elsewhere hasn’t translated into signatures and the percentages for the constituencies are well below what we see on phase 1, which suggests there’s far less outrage about Hs2 here.

It’s worth remembering that these petitions get the greatest number of signs in the first few days. Once the activists have signed, numbers drop off rapidly. To reach it’s target the petition needs over 555 signs every single day for the duration. There’s no chance of that happening. This petition’s utterly pointless. The only thing it’s doing is allowing people to monitor the pulse of the stophs2 ‘campaign’. Judging by these numbers, it won’t be long before someone turns off its life-support machine. I’ll report back monthly, just to monitor what happens.

Having spent the past few days at home working on the cottage I’m back on the rails again, heading down to London in readiness for taking the pictures of tonight’s National Rail Awards. I’ve only just realised that this is actually the 15th year I’ve been working at it. Where the hell has the time gone? I started back in 2003, which seems like a lifetime ago. It’s always an amazing event to work at, partially because of the venue (the Grand room of the Grosvenor House hotel in Park Lane, London) but also because it’s a showcase for the best the railway industry has to offer in the way of projects and people. But it’s not all work. It’s also an opportunity for me to catch up with friends and colleagues whom I’ve met or worked with over the years. No doubt a few stories will be told in the bar afterwards!

My next awards ceremony is a little different. I’ll be working at the Community Rail awards in Derby next month. It doesn’t have the glitz and glamour of the NRA, but it’s another great showcase of a different kind – it celebrates the fantastic work of the volunteers (and some paid staff) who look after their local stations or railway lines.

Finally, I’ll be volunteering my services at a slightly different event. The Railway Benefit Fund annual charity ball in Glasgow. It’s one of those nights where the industry comes together to help members of rail staff (current and retired) in need.

As promised earlier, here’s a look at the mock up of the interior of Greater Anglia’s Aventra trains. Be aware that this isn’t exactly how they’ll appear In service (it is a mock-up after all). The model has been built to test various layouts, so it’s an amalgam of styles. Still it give you a feel for what they’ll look like in service.

Features to note include underfloor heating, air conditioning, plug sockets (with USB) and high capacity broadband. The units will be used across the GA network, including Hertford East, Kings Lynn and Ipswich to London. Also GE services including Norwich, Ipswich, Braintree, Clacton and Southend.

The first trains will enter service in 2019.

The seats are cantilevered from the body sides, creating more luggage apace and making them easier to keep clean. Note that each bay has more USB sockets than seats.

After a weekend of DIY at home I’m on my travels again, heading for a job in Derby. An advantage of having a fiancé who works by Huddersfield railway station is that it’s easy for me to get a lift to a station that has a far greater selection and frequency of services than my local one. I’d a number of routes to choose from but today the best option was a Northern service to Wakefield Westgate for a connecting Cross-Country train to Derby. It nearly didn’t happen. As is often the case, Trans-Pennine Express services were running late. Today, they were very late*. My 09:31 was held to let a York through that was 50 minutes down. Despite this, quick work by the crew of our Pacer turned a 7 late departure into an on-time arrival. It wouldn’t have mattered – my onward connection was late too! A pair of Voyagers rolled in 6 down. I’m sitting in one now, scribbling this before posting it via the wifi. We’re gradually making up minutes en-route so I’m expecting a right-time arrival at Derby. The beauty of Voyagers is they’ve plenty of horsepower when needed!

To say the weather is changeable at the moment would be an understatement. It really has been a case of four seasons in one day, I need to be carrying a brolly and waterproof sun cream in weather like this! At least today’s job is undercover. I’m heading for the Bombardier plant to shoot a mock-up of one of the new Aventra trains that’ve been ordered by Anglia, so expect a few pictures to be added this afternoon.

See you later!

* In fairness to TPE, this wasn’t their fault. Torrential rain caused the line to be flooded at Greenfield.

I’ve escaped from home for the first time this week. The last few days have been spent on domestic duties, retiling our bathroom. It’s been fun but frustrating as (like most old Victorian properties) there’s not a level wall in the place!

I’m en-route to London on a flying visit to get some pictures for a magazine. It’s not ideal weather, as I write this I’m passing through the Colne valley which contains a Turneresque collection of low clouds and rainstorms. It’s not meant to be much better in London as thunderstorms are forecast. I expect I’ll be in for a soaking at some point today.
My recent absence from blogging has been due to a variety of reasons – including the fact that I’ve been writing for work, not pleasure. I’ve an article on the Heart of Wales railway line in the current issue of RAIL magazine which carried an earlier one on the ‘Three peaks by rail’ event for the charity the Railway Children. I’ve also been kept busy visiting 17 stations around the country in my role as a judge for the ACoRP awards. I thoroughly enjoy that. Not only does it give me chance to visit places I wouldn’t normally travel to – I also get to meet some amazing and inspirational community rail volunteers and Officers and see first-hand the fantastic work they’re doing. During our visits, I can talk about what other groups are doing and help spread best practice and ideas. This year the awards are being held in Derby, a town that’s at the heart of the rail industry (the awards move each year). It’s always a great event and I’m looking forward to seeing the faces of some people when they find out that they’ve won.
Part 2
Now I’m on a Virgin Pendolino, heading for Euston after a seamless connection at Manchester Piccadilly. Unusually, I managed to get a table seat on the earlier Trans-Pennine Express service from Huddersfield. They’re often packed, so the new (longer) loco hauled sets being built by CAF in Spain will be a welcome capacity increase – as well as providing something new to photograph.
My Pendolino’s busy but I’ve managed to find a seat here too. Whilst it was the school holidays I spent a lot of time sitting in vestibules as the trains were so rammed. I never bumped into Jeremy Corbyn tho…I take back my earlier comment about the unsuitability of the weather, there’s a glorious mixture of moody skies, sudden showers and outbreaks of blue sky or sunshine that would make for some great pictures if you’re in the right place at the right time. Hopefully, at some point in the day, I will be…
Right, that’s all for now folks, it’s time to stop scribbling and catch up on some reading.

Part 3
After a couple of hours back in London I’m heading back North, this time on a Virgin East Coast. Coast service. The performance between the two trains is noticeable. A tilting Pendolino irons out the twists & turns on the West Coast whilst you can really feel the curves or pointwork aboard VTECs Mk4’s. A couple of times my laptop has threatened to leap off the airline seat table its perched on. It’s POETS day (Piss Off Early, Tomorrow’s Saturday) so this Leeds train is packed with people heading back to their roots for the weekend. Sadly, there was no chance for me to indulge in any moody weather shots as the capital suffered uniformly low cloud. Instead, I’m going to call in my local pub on the way home and enjoy their quiz. Friday night may seem to be a strange time to have one, but this is a bit special. It’s a small group who answer the questions printed in our local ‘Pub Paper’ read out by Mel, a woman with a booming voice and a broad Lancashire accent. She’s the only person I know who needs to come with subtitles! She won’t mind me saying this but her pronunciation of unfamiliar words can be a real source of amusement. The other week she came out with ‘Sarco Fagus’, it took a minute for the penny to drop. She meant sarcophagus!